Cop Who Killed 13-year-old California Boy Won't Face Charges

Lopez was spotted carrying a toy gun, which officers believed was actually an assault rifle. "People have to do something," said Elbert Howard, a founding member of the Police Accountability Clinic and Helpline of Sonoma County, at the time of the incident. "He's a child, and he had a toy. I see that as an overreaction to shoot him down."

According to reports by Gawker, on Monday, the Sonoma County district attorney ruled that the California sheriff's deputy who shot and killed Lopez will not face charges.

"While this was absolutely a tragedy, it was not a criminal act," Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said, according to the New York Daily News. The deputy "fired his weapon in response to what he honestly and reasonably believed was an imminent threat of death to himself or others."

But protestors disagreed.

"He was a kid. He was shot because he was kid carrying a toy gun where kids play," said Jonathan Melrod, an activist with Justice for Andy Lopez. "That is an injustice that cannot be permitted."

Lopez's parents were heartbroken, stating that the decision was “impossible" to accept. "This disheartening decision leaves the family feeling as though Andy had been killed again today," his parents said in a statement released by their lawyer.

Thirteen-year-old Lopez was struck down by seven bullets, two of which the wounds proved to be fatal.